Absorbent articles such as disposable diapers, pull-on diapers, training pants, sanitary napkins, pantiliners, incontinence briefs, and the like, are well known in the art and are highly effective for absorbing and containing urine and other bodily exudates. Since their introduction into the marketplace, absorbent articles have continued to improve regarding fit and functionality. For example, absorbent articles are constructed to provide a snug and comfortable fit around the waist and legs of a wearer. Diapers are able to contain large quantities of exudates without leakage or adverse impact to the wearer's skin.
However, diapers have not advanced quite as significantly in regard to aesthetic design. Since the inception of commercially available disposable diapers, the diaper's predominant color is that which is inherent within the materials selected for construction. The materials are generally a white color often achieved by the use of pigments such as titanium dioxide. Limited graphics are now commonplace in most diapers. These graphics include unique patterns and non-white colors. Only recently have manufacturers tried to imbue color over an increasingly larger surface of the diaper and over substantially different components of the diaper. Increasing the color content of an absorbent article is desirable in that the article begins to appear more like a traditional child's cloth undergarment. The diaper appears more underwear-like and less readily identifiable as a diaper. One problem that has resulted from initial attempts to impart color over substantially different components of the diaper is color mismatching.
Ensuring that colors within a diaper match is important but difficult to achieve. A diaper having matching colors communicates to the consumer that the product is of high quality and differentiates the product from inferior competitors' products. A diaper having matching colors is holistically pleasing and is believed to be preferred by consumers. However, absorbent articles are difficult products to color match. Diapers are comprised of a variety of materials. Printing, coating, or impregnating are well known methods for imparting color, but not all materials used in diaper construction are amenable to each of these methods. As a result, one material may only be colored by printing or coating while a different material adjacent to the first may only accept impregnation of color. Even if two different materials are amenable to a single method for imparting color, the imparted color may appear mismatched between the two materials in the finished product. Many surfaces of a diaper are laminates whereby the color-bearing layer is covered by a second layer. The resulting laminate exhibits a muted color compared to the color of the color-bearing layer. Furthermore, the texture of the material may also adversely impact the color imparted.
A further problem in color matching is determining when two surfaces have matching colors. Reliance on human discernment of color differences or matching is undependable because color differentiation is a highly variable personal characteristic. As a result, what appears to be color matched to one observer may be distinguishable to another. Furthermore, quantifying the highly qualitative concept of human discernment of color differences or matching between two or more surfaces is very difficult.